Ingredients
| 1 medium-sized smoked snapper, just under 1kg in weight | |
| 1 litre water or chicken or fish stock | |
| 4 medium shallots (or 8-10 tiny ones) | |
| 4-8 dried Thai chillies | |
| 3 stalks lemongrass | |
| 12 cherry tomatoes | |
| 6-8 lime leaves | |
| 3-4 tablespoons tamarind concentrate | |
| 3-4 tablespoons fish sauce, or more to taste | |
| 1 teaspoon palm sugar | |
| 1 small handful of sawtooth herb or coriander, to garnish |
This soup may be lesser known than tom yum but it’s no less delicious. It’s another dish I love making while I’m in New Zealand because of all the fabulous smoked fish we have here. I use a whole smoked fish because I like using the heads and bones in the broth, but you can easily just use smoked fish fillets, it will still be good.
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Instructions
| 1. | If you use a whole smoked fish, start by separating the fish meat from the bones and skin. |
| 2. | Set aside the meat, break the bones and skin into smaller pieces and add them to the pot of water or stock. |
| 3. | Bring to a boil and simmer for up to one hour. Strain the stock, discarding the fish bits. |
| 4. | If you’re using fish fillet, you can skip that whole step and begin right here. |
| 5. | Turn the barbecue on high. Put the shallots onto a bamboo skewer and do the same with the dried chillies (I suggest using the skewers so they are easier to handle on the grill). |
| 6. | The lemongrass you can leave whole for the moment. |
| 7. | Grill the shallots and lemongrass stalks until the outsides are charred but not quite cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. |
| 8. | Grill the chillies for about 10-20 seconds, just until they take on some colour but are not burnt. |
| 9. | Once they’re done, set aside for a few minutes to cool down. |
| 10. | Peel the outer, burnt layer from the shallots and the lemongrass. |
| 11. | Cut the shallots in half (no need to do it if you use the tiny ones). |
| 12. | Cut the lemongrass into 5cm pieces and crush them lightly with the flat of your knife. |
| 13. | Bring the pot of stock to a boil, add the fish, cherry tomatoes, lemongrass stalks, shallots, lime leaves and dried chillies, and simmer for 15 minutes. |
| 14. | Add the tamarind concentrate (because some brands of tamarind concentrate can be stronger than others, start with just 2 tablespoons and add more if you need to), fish sauce and palm sugar. |
| 15. | The soup should be pleasantly sour, but not brashly so. |
| 16. | Discard most of the lemongrass (it is only used for the aroma and is not supposed to be eaten), keeping a few pieces to float in the soup bowls as garnish. |
| 17. | Divide the soup between four bowls and garnish with torn coriander or sawtooth herb. |
Recipes & food styling Pim Techamuanvivit / Portrait & recipe photography Tony Nyberg / Restaurant photography Adahlia Cole, Anson Smart